pastoral ministry

Preach a Simple Gospel

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.”

(Galatians 3:1, ESV)

When Paul had originally proclaimed the gospel in Galatia, the people received it with great joy. But Paul soon learned that their acceptance of the gospel of Christ was overthrown by their warm embrace of a false gospel brought in by those who sought to pervert its purity. The conversion from truth to error and from a saving gospel to a damning gospel was so quick that the Apostle likens it to an act of sorcery that had “bewitched” those who had rejected the truth in favor of a lie.

Paul had preached to them a simple gospel–as he said, “Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.” By this, Paul means that he painted a picture of the gospel with clarity and plainness. Like a billboard that sits alongside a main thoroughfare must be clear and to the point, so too Paul’s gospel was portrayed to them. How could they mess it up so badly?

This reminds me of the need to preach a simple gospel to the lost. As we grow in the faith we will learn more doctrine and deeper theological truths. These are good and necessary in our Christian walk. But these things can also become a hinderance to sharing the simplicity of the gospel. The Galatians couldn’t claim that the message was muddy, nor could they say they didn’t understand it. They had, and this was what bothered Paul so much. He strove to make the gospel as clear as possible, and yet they rejected it and replaced it with a false and damning message of works-based salvation.

The great Baptist pastor Charles Spurgeon saw this danger of overcomplicating our message as well. He wrote:

A good many years ago, when I was about fifteen or sixteen years of age, I wanted a Savior, and I heard the gospel preached by a poor man who said in the name of Jesus, “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth” (Isa 45:22). It was very plain English, and I understood it and obeyed it and found rest. I owe all my happiness since then to the same plain doctrine. Now suppose that I were to say, “I have read a great many books, and there are a great many people willing to hear me. I really could not preach such a commonplace gospel as I did at the first. I must put it in a sophisticated way, so that none but the élite can understand me.” I would be—what would I be? I would be a fool, writ large. I would be worse than that: I would be a traitor to my God. For if I was saved by a simple gospel, then I am bound to preach that same simple gospel till I die, so that others too may be saved by it. When I cease to preach salvation by faith in Jesus, put me into a lunatic asylum, for you may be sure that my mind is gone.

 Charles Spurgeon, Galatians, ed. Elliot Ritzema, Spurgeon Commentary Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).

I pray that we never go beyond proclaiming a simple gospel. Not simplistic, but simple. There will be time and occasion to bring a babe in Christ to understand the deeper things of the faith, but as we point the unbeliever to the cross, may we do so with gospel simplicity and clarity.

The Challenge of Speaking Truth to Power

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“But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?””

(Galatians 2:11–14, ESV)
Hugh Latimer preaching to King Henry VI

Walking faithfully in the Christian life is filled with challenges and plenty of opportunities to grow and mature. Of course, maturity includes learning from our mistakes as well as our successes. 

The Apostle Peter had made his share of mistakes during his time with the Lord Jesus. Even in his older years, having matured spiritually and having seen many victories, he was still prone to wander at times, as Galatians 2 tells us. We all can learn from Peter’s mistakes and see the need for humility in our own lives.

Likewise as Paul in Galatians 2 encountered, there are times when we must deal with those who are in sin and error. We may be the more mature (at least in this area) or the one who was not deceived by this particular error and weren’t caught up in the false teaching. It can be an intimidating thing to confront someone about their faults and sins, especially when they are influential or in a position of authority. We can sometimes imagine the outcome of our confrontation—maybe a backlash of anger, or a shouting match, or a challenge to our questioning their maturity or faithfulness to the Lord and Scriptures. Maybe we imagine a broken relationship and friendship, or the family leaving our church, or turning others against us. Compound this with other past experiences when some of these things did happen, and it makes it especially hard to do the right thing. It often seems easier to just let it pass without a comment. I have had this temptation happen many times myself.

There are some things that we should allow to pass. Love does covers a multitude of sins (1Pet 4:8). But there are also many things that we cannot allow to pass by without speaking up. As Paul demonstrated in his letter to the churches of Galatia, we cannot remain silent about any deviation from the core doctrine of justification by faith alone. So, while we recognize the need for humility and grace, we also must confess the need for courage to confront and speak boldly for the sake of the truth.

The dangers are two-fold: in the name of faithfulness, be angry and caustic with no love for people while upholding truth, or allow the desire to be liked by men and avoid confrontation to drive us to silence so that we can avoid conflict. Both are sin. May God help us all to grow in this area where we can speak body with love for the sake of Christ, knowing that we would desire that when someone senses error in our own understanding of doctrine, that we too would want to have them come to us in a similar Christ-like manner.

Hard Heads Often Lead to a Hard Life

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“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? Proverbs 1:21–22 (ESV)

“If you keep going down this path, you two will end up divorced, your kids will be taken from you by the authorities, and you will end up in jail.” I remember the words coming out of my mouth and the shock upon the face of the couple as they sat in my study seeking counsel for their marriage. We had met over and over again. Sometimes the calls came in the middle of the night, sometimes they were desperate. Sometimes the conversations included drunken slurring of words and being hung-up on while speaking on the phone. Now they were desperate. Again they asked for help.

My sobering words to them were not my first words. They were what I feared would be my last words before disaster struck. Interventions with elders, other believers, social workers, and family had all gone unheeded. Temporary remorse was quickly undone by indulgence in sin. Drunkenness, drugs, adultery, anger and violent outbursts were all the fruit of their foolish lifestyle.

As Solomon appealed to his son to hear his words, he noted that wisdom is not hidden. She shouts in the streets to all who will listen, but the fool plugs his ears because he loves being simple. In v. 21, Wisdom asks the question, “How long?” Will this keep going?

I have heard those who have lived through difficult times refer to their education in the “school of hard knocks” as the only way they could learn the lessons they needed to learn. That is sad, because it isn’t the only way. Scripture is open, it continues to speak and hold forth light for those who are willing to accept it. What I think these people really mean is that they were so foolish and proud that they were unwilling to listen. Unable and unwilling are two very different things.

I can look back at my own life and many times see my own foolishness. O how I wish I had listened to the wise voices that pleaded with me. But I was unwilling. But Wisdom continued to speak truth, and finally the Lord’s words penetrated my foolish heart and I began to not only hear, but heed his Word.

Are you praying for a hard-headed fool? Don’t stop speaking truth. They may continue to delight in their foolishness for a time. Perhaps God in his grace and mercy will stop them dead in their tracks and open their eyes to see the truth, and will change them. He did it for me. And that couple? He did it for them as well. They finally heard the warnings and began to make the changes they needed to make, and God in his infinite love spared their marriage and their family, and began making something beautiful out of the ashes. He can do the same with the foolish person in your life as well.

The Soon-Crushed Serpent

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“I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”

Romans 16:17–20, ESV

This morning as I was getting into my car, I noticed a large weed growing at the edge of my front lawn. Not far was a large patch of clover that has continued to spread throughout my yard. As I began to look around, I began to notice more and more weeds. I take a bit of pride in my yard, and the battle against weeds seems to be never ending. I had a small shrub die recently, and I can’t figure out why, but I never tend to the weeds and they still flourish. All of this reminds me of the curse of sin.

As the Apostle Paul closed out his letter to the Romans, he thanked a litany of saints that had been a blessing and encouragement to him in the ministry of the gospel. However, in verses 17-20, after having thanked the hard workers in the church, Paul diverted his words to address the danger of false teachers who will work to break up that unity through their deceptive speech that makes it seem like they care for the church, but in reality they only care about themselves.

I don’t know of a pastor that hasn’t come face to face with a false teacher who has sought to divide the church, and many times under the guise of what is best, in their eyes, for everyone. As a pastor, it hurts to watch this poisonous deception spread like weeds in the hearts of those who listen to the smooth words of these liars. Paul had seen it happen, and he warned the church to watch out for this among themselves as well. He knew that when division comes, the work will stop. Satan knows this too.

Today I asked my wife to call a company to come and spray weed killer and fertilizer on our lawn. The weeds will be kept at bay while the grass will have time to thicken and grow stronger roots, enabling it to fight off the weeds as it grows more robust. But the fight against the weeds will never end…that is until the Lord Jesus returns.

Paul sees this as well. Paul wrote, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet…”(v. 20). The “peace” is the eternal peace given to the children of God through the atoning work of Christ. There will be no peace accord with the enemy. This God who brings peace through Christ will crush Satan, that serpent of old, not only under the feet of Christ, once and for all, but he will crush Satan under our feet as well. We will share in the victory that was won at the cross and which culminates at the Second Coming.

So for now, we fend off the brood of vipers, and we seek the welfare of the church through the fertilizer of the Word, knowing that it will help keep the liars at bay. But we also recognize that until the Serpent-Crusher comes to make all things right, we can take courage in knowing that he has already won the victory through the cross of Jesus Christ.

Help for New Expositors: Choosing the Next Book From Which You Will Preach

/ Richard Bargas / 2 Comments

This blogpost assumes a few things: that you preach, that you use the Bible when you preach, and that you preach through whole books of the Bible. If all of those apply to you, then perhaps this post will be helpful.
Below I have listed a few thoughtful considerations when choosing the next book from which I will preach:

  1. Which books have I already covered in my expositions? This is important because it might show you the heaviest types of books you have emphasized in your preaching thus far. Perhaps you have favored the Gospels or Pauline Epistles in your preaching. Maybe you are about to finish preaching through a large book, like Psalms or Genesis. Maybe you will notice that you have preached exclusively in the Old Testament or the New Testament. Maybe you have preached one letter out of a series (1 Corinthians, 1Peter or 1 John for instance), and have not covered the other epistles. By asking this question you will have a better grasp of any places you need to avoid and others you need to seriously consider.
  2. What are the major needs of my church right now? If you have many newer believers, the Gospels would serve them well. If you have a church that is more spiritually mature, but could use some teaching in deeper doctrine, like soteriology, perhaps Romans or Ephesians would be a good pick. Maybe your congregation has been beat up spiritually, or they have just gone through a major upheaval or split. Which books would help bring healing and peace to their souls during this time? Along with their spiritual needs, you might consider the needs of the church body in practical matters. Are you seeing many families come in who could benefit on teaching about God’s plan for the family? Is your church financially wealthy and they need to see how God would have them use their wealth and spiritual gifts for the glory of God? Many times pastors think that to answer these practical types of questions they need to go to a topical sermon series to answer these needs, but a well chosen book can help while at the same time demonstrating the way that the Bible is to be read as the Word of God and not a “fix-it manual.”
  3. Where have I as a pastor avoided preaching because of my own weaknesses? Pastor, never forget that you are not just a shepherd, but a lamb, and you need to grow as well. Sometimes we pick what we know and are most comfortable in regard to books and subjects. Do you struggle with the discipline required to stick with preaching longer books—choose a longer book and preach it! Do you drag your church through minutiae in the text? Preach an overview of a book in a few short weeks. Do you struggle with your understanding of the Old Testament practices of Israel and how they relate to the Gospel? Preach through the book of Hebrews. Do you love long books? Preach through a few short books. Preach almost exclusively from the New Testament? Preach through an Old Testament book. If you only preach on subjects and from books from which you are comfortable, then you will not grow in your knowledge of the Word, but worse, you and your church will become anemic in the areas you fail to preach.
  4. Where do I see the church needing to go in the near future?Are you needing to develop deacons and elders in your church? Prepare their hearts to understand what the biblical requirements of these offices are by teaching them from the Pastoral Epistles. Are you seeing that your church has lost its heart for evangelism? Think about why that is, and then prepare to take them through a book like Acts, or the Gospels. I think it is always a good time to point out to the Church what it is like to live in a society that is hostile toward God, his Word and his people. This will prepare them to trust in God when times are bleak and will help them endure during persecution. The books of Daniel, Acts and Revelation are great for this purpose.

While it is true that the Spirit of God will use whichever book we choose to preach from, we should be more methodical and thoughtful as we prepare for preaching through a new book. This means we should begin with prayer, think thoughtfully about questions like those I pose above, and then use wisdom, depend upon the Lord that he will bless the preaching of his Word to your Church.